This coming week promises to be another busy one on the Hampton Roads literary circuit.

Pulitzer-prize winner speaks at CNU

On Thursday, September 26, Christopher Newport University will host Pulitzer-prize winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in a presentation entitled "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History." Ulrich's book of the same name was published in 2007. From a news release: "Dr. Ulrich will consider the roots of women's history, as well as the many ways historical information is transmitted to and absorbed by the general public."

A past president of the American Historical Association and former MacArthur fellow, Ulrich has authored numerous articles and books on American history, including the 1991 Pulitzer-prize winner in history, "A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard Based on her Diary, 1785-1812."

The lecture, which sponsored by CNU's Department of History as part of the Organization of American Historians Distinguished Leadership Program, is free and open to the public. No registration is required.

When?Thursday, September 26, 4 p.m.

Where?CNU's Ferguson Center1 Avenue of the Arts

Cost?Free, open to the public

Acclaimed poet Tyehimba Jess kicks off W&M's writers' lecture series

Later that day, the William & Mary Patrick Hayes Writers Series kicks off with award-winning poet Tyehimba Jess. Jess, who authored 'Leadbelly,' a collection about the life of blues musician Huddie 'Leadbelly' Ledbetter, is the winner of the Whiting Award, a former Poetry Ambassador to Accra, Ghana, and the recipient of numerous other awards and fellowships.

From W&M's website: "A reviewer for 'Publisher's Weekly' noted that 'the collection's strength lies in its contradictory forms; from biography to lyric to hard-driving prose poem, boast to song, all soaked in the rhythm and dialect of Southern blues and the demands of honoring one’s talent.”

The reading is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing will follow the reading.